Description

Students spend their morning hours making hospital rounds and reviewing the patients on the neurosurgical services with our staff, residents, and APPs. In addition, all pertinent radiographs are reviewed. There is an emphasis on learning appropriate neuroanatomy and neurophysiology.

Specific goals

Students should be able to recognize an acute neurosurgical emergency and become familiar with the management of:

1. Closed head injury.
2. Spinal injuries and the management of the unstable spine.
3. Active cervical, thoracic and lumbar radiculopathy.
4. Subarachnoid, subdural, epidural and intracerebral hemorrhage.
5. Carotid occlusive disease and management of TIA's.
6. Primary and metastatic intracranial and spinal neoplasia.
7. Treatment of tremor secondary to Parkinson's disease.

Activity outline

Students participate in daily patient rounds at Mayo Clinic hospital. They take patient histories and perform physical examinations. They also participate in the observation of surgical procedures and become familiar with each patient's history and radiographic abnormalities. During the afternoon, students complete rounds with an emphasis on immediate postoperative evaluation and recognition of potential problems. Attendance at the weekly neurosurgery case conference and the multidisciplinary spine conference also is required.

Method of evaluation

Residents and consultants evaluate students based on their day-to-day performance and understanding of the clerkship goals. No formal written or oral examinations are given at the end of the clerkship. Students are asked to summarize their experiences for future medical student reference.

Per Mayo Clinic institutional policy, faculty and residents/fellows will not complete any outside evaluations. You will be provided with an electronic performance evaluation via Mayo Clinic’s MedHub portal. A final summative evaluation will be sent to you and your school official upon completion of your clerkship.